


Fangs Like Splinters, Claws Like Knives (The Beast of Orlok Gobbles Lives)

by QueenBoudica



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Adopted Children, Audio 03.03: The Beast of Orlok, Episode Tag, Family, Frau Tod is a boss bitch, Gen, and I do of course love hans, and not just bc he's played by samuel barnett, but it does contain spoilers for it so, read at your own risk I guess, you don't need to have listened to the beast of orlok to understand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24112087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenBoudica/pseuds/QueenBoudica
Summary: Glimpses into the lives of Frau Tod and her children as they grow up, both before and after the Doctor.
Kudos: 1





	Fangs Like Splinters, Claws Like Knives (The Beast of Orlok Gobbles Lives)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm once again back with a fic that no one is ever going to read but oh well I like Frau Tod so here we are

It was the middle of November and well below freezing, and you shivered as you hung up the washing. You had been meaning to do it earlier that day, when it was warmer, but time had gotten away from you, so here you were, on the cusp of dusk, trembling in your yard. Suddenly, a spark of light flashed in the corner of your eye; you turned your head in order to get a better look. 

It was a glowing light, approaching ever nearer in the direction of the forest. It looked like a star, torn from the heavens and cast down to earth. It grew nearer and nearer, until it disappeared over the tree line of the woods. It was cold and dark out, but your curiosity got the better of you.

You remembered how your mother had always told you not to journey into the woods at night, but you could feel, with a bone-deep certainty, that this was too important to leave until the morning. You left the rest of your washing in the tub, and headed for the forest.

As you passed the first trees, they blotted out most of the faint light that was available to you, and your stomach crept with unease. Still, you ventured further, determined to find out just what it was that had crashed in these woods. You hadn’t been able to make out exactly where it had fallen, but you headed in what you thought was approximately the right direction, and continued walking. 

It took quite a while—you weren’t sure how long exactly it had been, but it was definitely over an hour. Eventually, however, you stumbled into a clearing, and you saw it. It was—well, you weren’t exactly sure what it was. It looked to be the remnants of some sort of metal container, but like none you‘d ever seen. There was a door on one side, and you opened it as silently as possible. You crept closer, and that’s when you saw them. Two tiny babes lying in the wreckage. You knew that they had to be what the craft was containing, though it seemed impossible that they would have survived the crash.

You moved closer still, and saw that one was a boy, and the other a girl. They both looked at you, cooing peacefully. All at once, you realised what this was. You’d yearned for a child for years now, but found no interest in men, thus making your dream impossible to realise. This, however, was the solution to your troubles. The gods must have sent this blessing down to you. For what reason, you could not guess, but in that moment, you swore by all of them that you would guard these star-children and protect them with your life. 

Ever so carefully, you bent to gather them up and bring them back to your home, hoping you could remember the way. Clasping the babes to your bosom, you began to retrace your steps towards your house. You’d only made it about a hundred meters away when you there was a large, explosive sound from behind, followed by a concussive blast. Then, all you knew was darkness.

.-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

The first thing that you noticed upon awakening was that the air was thick with the scent of brimstone. Your head felt fuzzy, but you opened your eyes anyway, trying to get your bearings. On the ground lay the wreckage of what looked to be a tree, flaming branches strewn about and leaves blistering with the heat.

The crunching of those same leaves heralded the arrival of a figure that entered the clearing. It was lit up from behind by the fire, so you couldn’t make out its features until it drew closer. Once it did, however, you let out a gasp. It was Baron Teufel, bloody fist clenched around a bloodier blade in one hand, and a severed arm in the other. 

It was at that moment that you realised the truth: there was no beast of Orlok. The only monster in these woods was the baron.

“Where did you find them?” he growled. “Give them to me, Frau Tod. I wish to examine them.”

There was no way in hell you were letting this man get near the children. Heaven only knew what he had planned for them, but you were sure it was nothing good. You faced down the baron, staring straight into his crazed face, and mustered all your courage. 

“No,” you said, heart racing.

You cast your eyes about for anything that could be used as a weapon, and they landed on a large stick, still burning in the wreckage. As quickly as you could, you snatched it up and struck him across the face. As he fell back, howling about his eyes, you clutched the children harder, and raced as quickly as possible away from him, out of the woods, and toward your house.

You made much better time on the return trip, and it seemed that in no time at all, you’d returned to your house, which was just as you’d left it. You scrambled inside and slammed the door, shoving a chair under the handle. He recognized you, which meant he likely knew where you lived. It was unlikely that the baron would come barging into town and try to take the children from you, but you were taking no chances.

You managed to improvise a cot out of a couple chairs and some dishrags, and lay the babes down in it. It would be suitable until you managed to get a more long-term solution. Emma, the seamstress who lived a few doors down had a five year old who’d probably outgrown her first crib. Tomorrow you would check if she still had it and would let you use it. Tonight, however, you would watch over the children.

You’d had younger siblings, and had helped other women with their babies, so you expected that at some point, the children’s unnatural calm wouldn’t last, and one of the them would wake up and start screaming (which would undoubtedly rouse the other one, who would begin to wail as well). You were, as it turned out, only half right. An hour or so in, the boy—and you should really think of names for them soon—blinked his eyes open. You braced yourself for the racket he would undoubtedly cause, but he just stared at you owlishly, before eventually smiling a wide, toothless grin. It was this moment that you knew that you would love these children until your dying breath.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if this is actually going to be four chapters, but I'm thinking I'll do one when they're kids, one during the events of the audio story, and one after the Doctor and Lucie leave, which, if my math adds up, sounds like four chapters
> 
> Also, if you haven't read any of my series or multi-chapter fics, then you don't know that my update rate is appallingly slow, so I make no promises about when the next chapters will come out.


End file.
